This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 6208/1998, filed Feb. 26, 1998, in the Korean Patent Office.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video-on-demand (VOD) system, and more particularly, to a method for controlling a television in which a reservation program is registered, by using a settop box, and the settop box.
2. Description of the Related Art
As standardization of MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group-2) comes to a conclusion, people now show a deep interest in MPEG-2 application services. Especially, experiments are conducted actively to put VOD services to practical use. Using the VOD services, the user can watch a desired program at a desired time by combining MPEG-2 with a computer network. For the MPEG-2 application services, not only technical study but also development in application products for film-on-demand, teleshopping, network games, news-on-demand, remote education systems, etc., are intensively being conducted. On the basis of this trend arising from 1993, DAVIC (Digital Audio Visual Council), which has made rapid progress in activities of standardization for bidirectional multimedia services, was established in March 1994.
The VOD services enable the user to watch a desired program at any time. The VOD services are applicable to a film, and educational or sports programs which are broadcast through a television (TV). For the VOD services, there are a content provider who is a producer of video information, an information provider, a user who is a consumer of the information, and a network provider for operating an information network between the information provider and the user.
Three main elements of a general VOD system are an application server 6, a network 8, and a settop box 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1 and applicable to the present invention. Video information contained in a recording medium 2, a video tape for example, provided by the content provider is supplied to the application server 6 by an input server 4. The application server 6 stores the video information and application software for controlling the video information and supplies them to a user device, for example, a settop box 10 or an indoor receiving device, according to a demand from the user. The application server 6 may be a cyberspace theater or a department amusement center. The network 8 should have a broadband network which can transmit information of a few Mbps-class so as to be used for distributing the video information, including a core network 8A, a node access 8B and an access network 8C. The core network 8A receives the video information from the application server 8 and transmits the same to the access 8B. The node access 8B connects the core network 8A to the access network 8B and enables transmission of information between the two, including the video information from the network 8A to the access network 8C. The access network 8A forwards commands from the user input at the settop box 10 to the node access 8B and the core network 8A, and then to the application server 8. In the access network 8C, various transmission media, such as an optical fiber, a coaxial cable, a spiral pair cable (telephone line) and a satellite, may be applied. The settop box 10 is installed in a house and serves as a termination of a broadband transmission path. The settop box 10 decodes the digital information of the application server 6 so as to be displayed on a TV monitor of a TV (shown in FIG. 2 as element 14), or supplies a command input by the user by means of a remote controller (RC) to the application server 6.
The TV 14 can be turned on or off by the settop box 10 connected thereto. The settop box 10 is also used to reserve a desired program.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrated to describe a control process for turning on the TV 14 by the settop box 10. Under a state that a reservation program is registered by the user, if it is a reservation program time, the settop box 10 is turned on, while the TV 14 is maintained at a turned-off state. To watch the reserved program, the user should check the reservation program time and control the settop box 10 by using a settop box remote controller so as to turn on the TV 14. By the control of the user, an infrared (IR) transmitter 12 of the settop box 10 transmits an IR signal corresponding to a TV on control signal to the TV 14. The TV 14 receives the IR signal through an IR receiver 16 therein and turns on its power.
Thus, there is a disadvantage in that the user can not watch the reservation program unless he or she manipulates the TV manually at the reservation program time. Further, the IR transmitter 12 of the settop box 10 requires an additional IR blaster wire to transmit the IR signal and the TV 14 should include the IR receiver 16, thereby causing inconvenience and a large cost.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of automatically turning on a settop box and a TV at a reservation program time.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of controlling a power state of a TV in which a reservation program is registered.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
To achieve the above objects of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a television using a settop box in which a reservation program is registered. The method includes the steps of: detecting program guide information from a video signal received by the settop box in response to a user""s request for a display of the program guide information, and displaying the program guide information on a monitor of the television connected to the settop box; checking a viewing time of the reservation program; if a present time is the viewing time of the reservation program, turning on the settop box; turning on the television by using communication ports of the settop box and the television; and displaying the reservation program received through the settop box on a television monitor of the television.